Humility With Others June 19, 2016

Transcription

1 Humility With Others June 19, 2016 Series, Awakening Pastor Travis Edgerton Matthew 5:7-9 Beginning Remarks 1. Address gigantic implications of this series/ spiritual warfare and distraction 2. Share my experience over the last five years and especially last seven months 3. Five yrs ago: God opened my eyes to the seriousness of my pride 4. Seven months ago: admit: don t just struggle with pride, I AM a prideful, arrogant man. 5. Work of humility that God has begun = most transformative experience 6. Changed internally and externally more in the last seven months than 38 years. 7. My experience of God s peace has been unbelievable. 8. And for me, this is just the beginning. Long, long way to go Introduction to the Passage 1. Open Bible to Matthew 5:3 (p in Bible in front of you). 2. Sermon On The Mount is like the Constitution for the Church, infinitely more significant. 3. Not a man-inspired document for a republic of voters. 4. Is a God-inspired document for a KINGDOM of saints. 5. The verses we are about to read are the very definition of the heart of anyone who would respond to the great mercy and grace of God. * Please stand in reverence as I read the words of Jesus Christ our King and Savior: Matthew 5:3-6 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. *These verses = first stages of humility. God strips away the pride and self-sufficiency that we ve relied on. It s an emptying. *And the text for today, the following three verses are what God puts in place of the pride and arrogance. God empties us of ourselves and fills us with the nature of Jesus: Matthew 5:7-9 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 1. The three elements of this new nature are mercy, purity in heart and peacemaking.

2 2. Important distinction: this series, we're not first and foremost focusing on things we DO. What we do is important, but for the Christ-follower, who we are MUST precede what we do. 3. Martin Lloyd Jones: "A Christian is something before he does anything. 4. All other religions and philosophies operate by doing in the hopes of becoming. 5. Jesus' offer: By grace, becoming results in doing. Mercy Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Matthew 5:7 1. I think the idea of mercy has become very muddled in our current culture. 2. Common mistake about mercy: downplaying the seriousness of or re-defining sin. 3. This is not humble and it is not merciful. 4. Humility would not re-define something as good that God has clearly defined as evil. 5. Humility receives whatever God gives as good, including His uncomfortable and politically incorrect commands. 6. It is not merciful to alter the truth of God. Mercy isn t extending grace by redefining sin. Mercy is extending grace by forgiving sin. 7. The presence of sin, and the HORROR of sin, is what makes mercy so merciful. 8. Mercy is not optional for a Christian. 9. Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy. 10. The only people who are merciful are those who have first received mercy. People who have been forgiven WILL forgive. 11. If I m not growing in mercy, humility: I am not surrendered to Jesus. 12. If people experience my morality more than my mercy, I am not humble. 13. Mercy doesn't preempt truth but mercy does PRECEDE truth. 1. Before Jesus asked me to change, He showed me mercy. 2. Before Jesus asks me to examine my own brokenness, He asks me to examine the depth of His love. 14. Do you know what Jesus says about the practice of mercy and morality? Matthew 23:2-4 The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger (other versions: don t lift a finger to help. ) Matthew 23:23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 15. Before I ever expect morality from another, I must first demand mercy from myself. 16. By no means, turn a blind eye to rebellion and sin, but we LEAD with mercy. 17. It is God's kindness that led you to repentance! (Romans 2:4). DO LIKEWISE.

3 18. Jesus' dream for His church: the most merciful people on planet Earth. Pure in Heart 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 19. Tendency: focus on pure. That is important, but the defining element: in heart. 20. Jesus grew up surrounded by people who were pure. A. Pure in diet, speech, doctrine, sexuality, behavior (at least publicly) B. These people were called Pharisees and teachers of the Law. C. If you just considered their behavior, they would be the very model of purity. 21. But Jesus concept of purity was more than skin deep. Look at what He said to these models of behavioral purity: Matthew 23: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 22. A tomb is a structure built to house a dead body. A. People would bleach this outer structure to make it a work of beauty. B. Beautifying the outside didn't change the reality of the inside: death and decay. C. Religious elite of Jesus' day were exactly like this: outward purity and beauty while neglecting and ignoring their inner impurity and decay. 23. He s not condemning the purity of their behavior. He s condemning the disparity between the purity of their behavior and the impurity of their hearts. 24. The heart, when Matthew was written meant something more all-encompassing. Today, we relate the heart mostly to emotions. 25. But to Jesus and the people hearing His teaching, this word summed up the totality of your inner-life: Your thoughts, attitudes, desires, will, motives AND emotions. 26. Here s the thing about the state of your heart your inner desires, motives, will, attitudes, emotions there are only two beings in all of creation who know what s truly there: you and God. 27. And this unseen, inner place is the place that Jesus is engaging you and saying, This is where it counts. 28. For many of us, this is a very unsettling truth: that my visible purity of behavior means nothing to Him if it is not produced by invisible purity of heart. 29. So many of us console ourselves with the fact that others look at us and judge us to be good people. We are respected and admired because of what people can see. 30. But this has literally NO VALUE to a God who can see past the appearance of things. 31. This unmixed condition of being (Martin Lloyd-Jones), where my outward behavior is an accurate projection of my inward being, is how Jesus defines purity. 32. And you may say, Ok, this is tough, but I ll work on having pure motives and desires. 33. But let s really explore this:

4 34. Close your eyes and think of: situation, person that your motives and will aren t completely pure, where there s selfishness or arrogance or hatred or jealousy. 35. Now, change it. Change your motives right now. Change your motives in a deep, genuine to the core, pure as the driven snow, permanent way. Do it. 36. I think everyone in this room realized something at precisely the same moment: I don t have access to my own heart. I can t even touch the deepest part of what makes me me. 37. If you re like me, after realizing this, your first thought is I m done. I m utterly hopeless. Because I can muster up outer visible purity but I know what happens inside and it s as dead and rotten as the inside of a tomb. I am evil, self-promoting, arrogant and selfish to the core. What hope is there for me?!?! 38. And Jesus comes to you and says, I know exactly what you are inside, my son, my daughter. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. 39. You may not have access to your own heart but I do. 40. This is why you can never leave this place of humility. You can never move past it. You must constantly receive purity from Me in the very deepest places of your heart or you will never have it. But I CAN do it! 41. Why do I need to seek humility every day of my life? Because if I don t, I will never be pure in my heart, where it counts to the One Who will judge me. 42. This is devastating grace. He breaks me to pieces in the same moment He breathes His soul into mine. Peacemaker 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 1. The people of Israel had long been expecting a messiah. 2. Chosen one: establish justice for Israel, in their assumption, by use of military force 3. It must have been a shock to them when Jesus uttered these words. 4. The sons of men have been trying to accomplish great things by the use of force since the very first children, Cain and Abel. 5. And we see new failed attempts at bettering the world through force every day. 6. It is the children of God who will accomplish great things and it won't be by force. 7. The way of Jesus is peace. 8. In Jesus' day, a son would almost always take on the trade of his father. 9. If you were in any given town and saw a young man working carpentry, your automatic assumption would be that this was the son of the carpenter who made your furniture 20 years ago, because a son takes on the trade of his father. 10. In the same way, when we leverage our lives by taking on the trade of peacemaking, we will be known as children of God because we've taken on His very peculiar trade. 11. Making peace through humble, self-giving, self-sacrificing love. 12. Many forms of peacemaking this could include 13. But I think the main one in Jesus' mind is making peace between people and God. In other words, RESCUE. 14. The trouble with the human race is that we are all born with hearts in rebellion to our maker. WE HAVE A SIN PROBLEM.

5 15. Any form of peace that does not come from surrender of the heart to God is not really peace.it's just postponed war. 16. If we are truly about peace, we will be about rescue because rescue is about the heart of man surrendering to the love of God. 17. I believe this is Jesus' meaning of peacemaker because of what He talks about next: persecution. 18. Many pontificate about peace (politicians, activists, actors and even musicians!) and they get applauded for it while the world continues to burn! 19. But it is the one who humbly shares the love of Jesus as the only way to the Father who has through the centuries been so despised and persecuted. 20. Why? Because all other forms of peace can be accomplished without the surrender of the heart, so it's safe. 21. Peace with the Father demands absolute surrender of the whole self. And so that's a message that can get you killed. 22. A word of exhortation: if you put more focus and effort on your man or woman getting elected than a man or woman finding peace with God, you are not growing in humility. 23. The one will cause marginal, temporary change at best. 24. The other changes ETERNITY. Time of Prayer Take out a pen and paper or a device to write down some thoughts 1. Father, am I prideful? 2. How prideful am I? How deep of a problem is this? 3. Show me the outward actions (symptoms) that prove that there is an inner disease of pride. 4. I can't fix this, I can't be humble. You have to do this for me or it will never happen. God, please give me humility! Share story of three tests of humility in one day. 1. Charlotte shared with me about my snoring, walking back downstairs, I can't do this 2. A friend confronting me of my pride and hurtfulness in the past 3. A worship service planning meeting, something said I didn't agree with or like 4. Passed two, failed the third. Began to confess my pride to God and ask His forgiveness on south 99. Stopped me in my tracks: "My son, I am so proud of you! You let me give you humility two times in a row today, and we can fix the third one tomorrow. I am so proud of you, My son!" 5. I will never forget that. Because in that moment, my Father proved to me that He CAN give me true humility and in the same moment He proved to me that I cannot.